<p>i expected to meet with my senators, at least</p>
<p>but the Senate was in recess and i only met their staffers
and everything was so militarized, they gave us no freedom</p>
<p>big disappointment.</p>
<p>i went to NYLF(national youth leadership forum) on medicine....</p>
<p>it was at UCLA, so I got to stay in the dorm for few days and eat at their cafeteria!! (their food is GOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!) :)</p>
<p>We had thesame problem, so we marched off to each of the Congressmenand Senate Office, did some talking and "Oxford" etiquette...soon we were off to have lunch with John Kerry and then sat in Congress while they fought over Big Bird and Public Brodcasting.</p>
<p>C-SPAN doesn't do justice to how enteraining Congress is!</p>
<p>happyggal, how was the medicine forum. I did something similar- NYLC; we studied politics and stuff in DC, but I've been looking at the medicine forum. How was it? I feel I already know a lot about the basics of medicine (ie there's med school, then residency, the MCAT, and all the requirements of becoming a doctor); besides learning about prepping for med school, did you learn a lot about medicine itself? I'm curious</p>
<p>I did an aviation summer program at UND last year. $900 for a week of flying (including an aerobatic flight), food and accomodation in the dorms wasn't bad at all. Plenty of lectures as well. I actually chose the UND program over People-to-People and NSLC...</p>
<p>I'm trying to get into SLS this year as well. $300 for a week in West Point. There are good programs out there, you just have to find them. And not all of them involve leaving the country.</p>
<p>summer programs affiliated with major universities = good</p>
<p>billybobbyk - NYLF was more focused on medicine than prepping for med school. We visited local hospitals(actually went into surgery rooms and stuff,, i tried on scrubs! haha), invited local doctors and listened to their life story/experience asked questions.. and we also got to visit some medical schools (cadavers!! imagine having about 40 of them in one room with ppl dissecting them.....). We did some activities-diagnosing patients according to their symptoms etc.. we also had to do a project on community welfare or something like that and present it and compete with each other and we had debates on controversial issues..(stem cell..etc) It was pretty fun. (I loved dressing up all professional/formal lol) We even got to go to six flags/santa monica beach/parties(gala) etc... I loved the overall experience but it's just that the price was bit tooo PRICY... i mean come on. $2000 for TEN DAYS??? it was fun and informative, but bit too expensive.</p>
<p>Also, I had to share a room with a roommate.. in UCLA dorm.. the dorm was REALLY nice and food was great, but urgh... it totally didn't work out btwn me and my roommate. (since she overheard me saying to my friend on the phone that she was a *****... we didn't really talk.. for rest of the days there.. haha.. guess it's my fault?? urrr..)</p>
<p>well but we didn't do anything so technical though.(except practicing suture on bananas and measuring blood pressure..lol) we didn't you know, like STUDY MEDICINE or anything... if that's what you're asking..</p>
<p>Overall how was the program, and would you say it was worth it or would you reccomnd the program to another person? I</p>
<p>You get out of it what you put into it. </p>
<p>I attended a LeadAmerica conference this summer, with financial aid, and it was the best experience of my life. I can honestly say the program changed me. If you do it for the prestige, as someone said above, it's not worth your money. But if you do it for the experience, for the knowledge you gain, then in my opinion, it is worth it.</p>
<p>Yes, there will be myriad "snobs" and rich kids whose parents just shelled out $2000 to get rid of them for two weeks of the summer, but there will also be so many amazing people who are really driven and want to do something constructive with their lives. And at least for me, this program really was worth it--sure, maybe it wasn't super-organized, and perhaps everything they put in their glossy brochures isn't exactly what we do, but what we did do [I did the Medicine & Healthcare conference] makes for an amazing time. </p>
<p>But that's just me. Feel free to ask if anyone has Q's about Med & Healthcare @ LeadAmerica.</p>
<p>Ok well thanks alot ceecee! What exactly is Lead America?</p>
<p>They're not a scam. Nowhere do they say, "This will guarantee you admission to the college of your choice."</p>
<p>If you go into those programs for the sole reason of impressing college admissions committees then yeah, maybe you are wasting your money. But I went to National Student Leadership Conference because I wanted to learn more about International Diplomacy and not sit on my ass all summer and meet new people. And it was one of the best experiences of my life, I learned a ton of new stuff and had lots of fun. It definitely was a worthwhile experience for me.</p>
<p>How about the JSA programs???</p>
<p>gymnast-i would recommend it to you if you're rich. </p>
<p>haha j/k.</p>
<p>I think i really had a good time and learned a lot.. i was kinda tentative on med route before, but it definitely opened my eyes...lol
it's just that we had so many ppl there and we couldn't all go to the place that we wanted to go...(we all splited into small groups to visit different places..)
some ppl actually went to a food factory or something..lol.. i was lucky;) i visited a med school/hospital...
Even though many ppl do have a really great time, i heard some ppl saying that it's not really worth it to spend $2000 for this... and i do think it was bit more expensive than it should be.</p>
<p>so just like ceecee said. you get out what you put into it.;)</p>
<p>I hear JSA programs are pretty reputable :)</p>
<p>Anyone ever heard of NYFA? </p>
<p>BTW, there was another thread about this a LONG time ago...</p>
<p>Thanks happyggal!! And no I never heard ofo NYFA what excatly is that?</p>
<p>I agree that a lot of summer programs are scams.</p>
<p>But of course, not all are.</p>
<p>For example, the GA Governor's Honors Program is a six-week program in the summer where you get to study with the state's best teachers on the subject that interests you. It's intense, fun, challenging, and FREE! (if you don't count money for laundry :))</p>
<p>Summer programs from accredited universities are not scams. They are expensive, yes, but not scams.</p>
<p>I went to Cornell this past summer to take classes, and I got college credit for it too. It was one of the best experiences of my life, in terms of learning more about people, college life, and even a thing or two about myself and dealing with issues that come up in the college life. It was awesome!</p>
<p>nyfa = new york film academy</p>